Archivo de febrero 1st, 2013

A 29-year old police officer was murdered in northwestern Medellín by suspects who allegedly approached the victim on foot while he was off duty.

According to a preliminary investigation, the officer had worked the night shift at the Villa Hermosa station of the Metropolitan Police, in the city’s Comuna 8. Officer Giovanni Gil was off on Friday and had been traveling on a motorcycle with his wife along the northern expressway; is wife was unharmed.

The crime’s motive is still unknown but it is the fourth officer from the same station to be murdered in less than three months. Three perished during the arrest of alias ‘el Gomelo’, a gang leader of the Villatina neighborhood, last November.

Venezuelan Vice-President, Nicolas Maduro, said President Hugo Chávez has moved on to a new phase in his cancer treatment and that a critical post-operatory phase has been closed. He assured people that the President is gradually recovering.

“What never fails is his spirit,” Maduro said about Chávez, “that willingness to remain among us, a gigantic will to live, his smile, the glow in his face, the glow in his eyes, his message of guidance.”

Venezuela’s Communications Minister, Ernesto Villegas, said last Saturday that the President’s health has progressed favorably after a complicated surgery on December 11th and that he is no longer suffering from a respiratory infection.

The 59-year-old President underwent his fourth cancer-related surgery in the past 19 months; while it’s known that Chávez’ cancer is located in the pelvic region, the exact location has not been disclosed by Chávez or his government officials.

Dane revealed that last year’s unemployment rate was 10,4%, only slightly lower than the previous year’s 10,8%. While President Santos celebrated the news, others are concerned the Government will have a hard time keeping unemployment on a downward trend.

“Colombia,” said General Labor Confederation President, Julio Roberto Gómez, “doesn’t have a policy conducive to generating sustainable employment, or jobs that aren’t temporary or seasonal.”

At least 25 cities in Brazil’s state of Rio Grande do Sul cancelled carnaval celebrations, which were scheduled to begin next week, as a sign of respect and mourning for the victims of the fire in the Kiss nightclub in Santa María.

Meanwhile, in Santa María all carnaval festivities were cancelled the day of the tragedy by Mayor Cezar Schirmer, who decreed 30 days of mourning. Most of the fire’s victims were students in the college town. In Brazil, Carnaval is scheduled for February 8th thru 12th.

Authorities are investigating whether a flare lit by the musical group performing that night was the cause of the deadly fire; it’s also unclear whether the club had all operating licenses up to date and security measures in place as negligence may have contributed to the devastating death toll.